Knowledge is the building block of Judaism. Love of God is contingent on what one knows about Him.
ועל פי הדעה--על פי האהבה--אם מעט מעט, ואם הרבה הרבה
I am planning to post from time to time some of the ideas that I develop as I read and think about issues that catch my attention. Usually they relate to Machshava or Halacha especially how they affect our daily life. I am looking forward to learn from all commenters.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Prayer as Acknowledgment - Prayer and Providence.

Several years ago we were learning the subject of Prayer in our weekly group and Rabbi Buchman referred us to a Yalkut Shimeoni on Tehilim chapter 100 on the verse

As we can see the traditional translation of the word תוֹדָה is thanksgiving. Thanking and being grateful is a very laudable trait that people should develop and thanking Hashem for the good He bestows on us is a good tool in developing that trait. The Midrash however suggests a deeper concept that I believe gives prayer a much deeper meaning. Here is the Midrash:

Rabbis Shimon and Yehoshua ben Levi in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeni: All trees when you cover their roots they improve however the walnut tree if you cover its roots it does not improve. A parable: A criminal was brought in front of the prosecutor. As long as he is defiant he is tortured once he admits he gets a punished.[2] God however is different. While a person is in denial he is punished once he admits he receives an amnesty thus the verse “one who admits and repents obtains mercy” (Mishlei 28:13). Rabbi Yehudah says: One who admits so that he should repent obtains mercy. As Moshe understood this he started saying a psalm - מזמור לתודה.

This Midrash introduces the idea that prayer is an admission of wrongdoing and an undertaking to improve one’s ways. The Midrash suggests that the punishment, the bad things that happen to a person, is the result of an incorrect mental state. Once a person acknowledges and realizes that

ג דְּעוּ-- כִּי יְהוָה, הוּא אֱלֹהִים:הוּא-עָשָׂנוּ, ולא (וְלוֹ) אֲנַחְנוּ-- עַמּוֹ, וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ.3 Know ye that the LORD He is God; {N} it is He that hath made us, and we are His, His people, and the flock of His pasture.

bad things are no longer bad. Prayer is the daily reinforcement and time to contemplate that the only way that we can try to act correctly is by acknowledging that God is the Creator. That acknowledgement allows us to emulate His ways and partake in His creation. Partaking in Creation can never be bad.

It is not only petitionary prayer that brings us respite. It is contemplative prayer that helps us put things into their proper perspective allowing us to act responsibly. This prayer really falls under the rubric of Providence – Hashgacha.

[1] Also Psikta derav Kahana Buber edition page 159 – (shuva).[2] I will leave it up to Dave at Balashon and the other distinguished linguists of the blogosphere to give the exact translation of מתריס (shields himself?) and פרקילא (Ransom? See Aruch) however Buber suggests the word should be Specula which mean punishment which I adopted as it makes more sense in context. הקוסטינר (quaestonarius)

One can see the obvious association of 'to judge'& criminal,but what has criminal have to do with prayer.אתמהא Though there are many roots which have opposite meanings e.g. "sakal"& "sikkel",but I wonder if someone like R.Hircsh who specialized in this field ,found any association between 'palal'-prayer;& palal-criminal.

for tefilla The root is Pilel and in the concordancia it has 4 meanings, judge, to bring to mind (leha'alot al hada'at), to beg and to pray. In thehillim we find Vaya'amod pinchas vayefalel which the gemara darshens as judgement.

The last are thanking for what? You just asked and had no chance to be answered? If youi read it as acknowledgement or admission that all that comes is from God it takes on a more rational construct. The midrash takes it one step further and says that the way you get answered is by acknowledging that the reason you need to ask is because you were not in touch with the One who gives all. Getting in touch will bring respite.

"'palal'-prayer;& palal-criminal."I meant that the root is פ.ל.ל there is of course no 'kal'of it.

My point was that there are associations between words of the same root even if they have opposite meanings in different binyanim.As e.g. sakal in kal means to stone something ,while in piel -sikkel,means to remove stones. But the idea behind both words in the 2 binyanim has to do with some action with stones.

You ignore the 2 ref.from Iyov.My point was :what associates 'plili','plilim'in Iyov which is derived from the root *palal פלל * meaning -iniquity,criminal & the word for prayer,which comes from the root but is used in piel & hitpael.You didn't address this point.

p.s I don't know which concordance you consulted,but as the ex of Iyov show the root also means 'iniquity-criminal'.You can't argue with facts.Maybe the con.only refered to the word in verbal form,though you do have in the hifil הפליל I have to check whether it's in Tanach(I think it is ,but I am not sure.I don't have a con handy at the moment).

I understood but I was responding more to TJM than you explaining that Hoda'ah was my focus.

Now you got me interested and Ibn Shoshan (my Con) has PLL for all except for Iyov 31:28 which has its own Pelili (requires a court's intervention) and Iyov 31:11 under Pelilim. (Noun for Judges)together with Devarim 32:31 and Shemot 21:22.All 3 have some realtionship to judging in common while the other explainations are only under PLL.

Disclaimer

About Me

I am a businessman living in Brooklyn. I spent time at Slabodka in Bnei Brak and Beth Medrosh Elyon in Monsey during the Sixties. Altough I have to thank the Yeshivos for giving me the basic tools to learn and think, I have found that they have not prepared me to be a thoughtful and practicing Jew once I was confronted with reality. Most of my real learning and personal growth was attained on my own while being active in the real world.

Overheard: What do you call that again?
-
Older fellow with glasses: I see that book in your taliis bag, called "Forgiveness". What is it about? New Age Guy: It is about how you have to forgive all t...